First Part of France

We’ve been in France for four days now. Our first destination was Omaha beach in Normandy. The American battle cemetery was staggering and very moving. There was a free exhibit inside the visitor’s center that provided a very detailed portrayal of the preparations, assault, and the subsequent liberation of France. The whole exhibit was very well done. When we got outside we followed the path to the cemetery and memorial. The landscaping was incredible and it’s clear that they spared no expense to honor the brave men who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the people here. We spent maybe an hour and a half at the cemetery then made the short drive down to St. Laurent sur Mer on Omaha beach where we found a little hotel and restaurant to spend the night at. We settled in and then ate. I had the steak au poivre. After dinner, we went for a walk along the beach. The sun was setting and it was downright beautiful. The low tide allowed us to imagine the horrific seen on D-Day sixty-five years ago. The cliffs along the beach now have summer cottages scattered along them but we thought we could make out areas where bunkers may have been. There was one house with a trail leading up to the top of the embankment. The house looked vacant so I walked through the gate and looked for the trail. As soon as I got close though, a couple of donkey’s got spooked. This made me spooked so I decided not to go any further. I don’t know if the beach is more crowded during the summer but there was no one there. Throughout our hour or so long walk I could count the number of cars that drove by on one hand. It was surprising because it’s a very nice area. It was basically a ghost town though.

The next morning we packed our things and left for le Mont-St.-Michel. On the way we stopped at a boulangerie and bought a baguette, a croissant, and a chocolate filled croissant. It only came out to like three euros and we decided we weren’t going to spend twenty euros on breakfast anymore while we were in France. Buying a baguette is the way to go except it makes a mess of our car. Going to Mont-st-Michel was my idea, Papa had never heard of it before. I had seen pictures of it before in French class and was interested by it because there are only certain times you can go there. The road leading out to it is only accessible during low tide. Fortunately for us, it was low tide when we got there. Le mont and the abbey sitting on the top of it was an amazing site to see. We walked all the way to the top, relaxed for like ten minutes then made our way back down.

Papa let me drive which was exciting. I drove all the way to Poitiers, about five and a half hours, where we checked into a hotel and relaxed for the rest of the night.